Tag Archives: Hussein

The conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been escalating beyond rhetoric and is fast moving into an actual military confrontation. Following a long round of proxy moves from Yemen – as well as an attempts to stop oil tankers in the Persian gulf – Iran have crossed another escalation threshold with a recent a missile attack on the Saudi Abqaiq oil field. Condemnations and additional sanctions have already taken their course and seem to have frustrated the Islamic regime even further. Yet, these measures did not stop Iranian actions such as last week seize of another ship as well as the announcement on newusage of advanced centrifuges in violation of the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Judging from current trajectory, these last moves will again likely to result in additional rounds of sanction or “limited escalations.” However, sooner or later, a new strategy will be required as the current one is having little effect on Iran’s motivation to destabilize oil markets and continue it’s path of nuclear and proxy confrontation.

Few seek another war in the Middle East. But will that likely leave the victory in the hands of Iran’s supreme leader and its top military operator, Qasem Suleimani?

Much has already been written about the “Arab Spring” that erupted some two years ago following the dramatic self-immolation of the unemployed Tunisian university graduate Mohammad Bouazizi. That action sparked a wave of protests throughout the region. Indeed, there is much to say about these protests and revolutions that have wrought significant political changes in the region and is expected to bring even more. The “Arab Spring,” a name coined at the beginning of these events, was accompanied by genuine hopes that this Middle Eastern wave would follow earlier “springs” such as the Spring of Nations in Europe, the Prague Spring of 1968, or the Seoul Spring of 1979. Continue reading →